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5280 has declared February the Month of Cocktails. In addition to this story, we will be posting daily spirituous stories on 5280.com/MOC. Among the offerings: A chance to vote in the Colorado Cocktail Challenge—a competition between three of Denver's craftiest mixologists—for your favorite quintessential Colorado cocktail at 5280.com/COcocktail.

5280.com Exclusive: Join us Tuesday, February 4 at 4 p.m. for a live chat with Williams & Graham owner Sean Kenyon. 5280.com/livechat

If Colorado’s liquor cabinets seem a little more crowded recently, it’s not your imagination. Ten years ago, maybe 60 craft distilleries existed in the country; today, they number closer to 400—and at least 40 of them call Colorado home. “Colorado is pretty much the gold standard in terms of craft distilling,” says Penn Jensen, executive director of the newly formed American Craft Distillers Association, which brings its inaugural conference to Denver next month to coincide with DStill (March 10 to 16), the city’s second annual Great American Beer Festival–style spirit celebration.

It seems natural that a state known for its beer culture would also lead the way when it comes to spirits. After all, says Williams & Graham owner Sean Kenyon, distillers are working with the same base ingredients: grains. Perhaps more important, over the past 20 or so years, Denver’s beer makers have cultivated a taste for craft products—meaning Colorado’s consumers have been trained to look for local labels instead of simply grabbing a bottle of Jack Daniel’s. And the state’s relaxed approach to the distribution of spirits makes craft distilling an enticing option not only for brewers looking to diversify, but also for out-of-state distillers with big dreams. (For example, Leopold Bros. moved here from Michigan in 2008 in part because of our lenient laws.)

Unlike most other states, Colorado allows spirit makers to self-distribute. “That means you can make it, sell it, deliver it, collect the retail income, and have tasting rooms both on- and off-site,” says Rob Masters, president of the Colorado Distillers Guild and head distiller at Loveland-based Spring44. “That’s not common practice in the rest of the country.” But other states are beginning to adjust their laws. “Colorado has been very influential in terms of showing other states the value of doing this,” Jensen says.

Colorado’s laid-back laws don’t mean starting a distillery is easy, though. First, there’s the cost of the equipment, which can run into the tens of thousands. Then there’s the permitting process: Distillers need a federal permit (technically free) and state license (about $1,025). The state license comes after the federal permit, but the latter can take up to a year to secure—and it’s granted only after a distiller shows financial proof that if all of the hooch in her warehouse disappeared, she’d be able to pay the tax on it.

That’s not all: Making Colorado’s most popular spirit—whiskey—takes time. Many new craft distillers subsist by making vodkas, gins, and liqueurs while they wait for their darker spirits to age. Others source whiskey from elsewhere and bottle it here, a practice that elicits serious debate when it’s not disclosed on the label. To that end, throughout this story, we’ve noted with an asterisk (*) any spirit that’s not “grain to bottle,” which means the maker did not distill the spirit himself from raw ingredients. We’ve done so not because sourcing a spirit diminishes its taste—our whiskey panel’s top bourbon pick is a blend partially sourced from Kentucky (see “Taste Test,” page 53)—but because transparency is important in consumer decisions, especially in a town that reveres its alcohol artisans. At the end of the day, notes Kenyon, it’s all about taste: “The bottom line should be the quality of the product in the bottle.”

In that regard, Colorado has plenty to be proud of.

ABV
Alcohol by volume, or what percentage of alcohol a bottle contains. Beer usually averages somewhere between 3 and 9 percent; wine sits at about 10 to 14 percent; and spirits are usually about 40 percent.

Angels’ share The amount of booze that evaporates from barrels while the spirit ages. (Early spirit makers imagined angels were the only explanation for liquid missing from sealed barrels.)

Liqueur Flavored, often sweet spirits that tend to have lower alcohol contents.

ProofTwice the ABV percentage. So if a bottle of booze is 40 percent ABV, it’s 80 proof.

Single malt Whiskey made from malted grain that is the product of a single distillery.

Small batchThis phrase refers to the number of barrels of whiskey (or rum, or whatever) mixed together in the bottling tank to create the whiskey in a single bottle. Interestingly, there is no federal regulation for what qualifies as “small.”

ThujoneThe plant-derived chemical found in absinthe thought to create the drink’s hallucinogenic effects. Federal restrictions mandate that absinthe can contain only 10 parts per million of thujone.

Whisky versus whiskeyScotland and Canada tend to drop the “e”; most of the rest of the world retains it.

When your distillery is in the middle of fruit heaven—Palisade—it follows that your brandy (and eau de vie and grappa) is among the state’s best. Each bottle of Peach Street’s Pear Brandy comes from 20 pounds of Bartlett pears, including a whole one inside the bottle.Use it in… A sidecar.

5280.com Exclusive: Get the recipe for a Peach Street Pear Brandy sidecar here.

Montanya Platino Light Rum$25

Montanya Distillers uses American cane sugar to make its rums, which are distilled over open flames and aged in reclaimed Stranahan’s barrels. The result: sweet nectar. Taste it for yourself at their Crested Butte bar, Outside‘s 2012 best après adventure bar in the world.Use it in… An old-school daiquiri (read: no blender).

Drink it at… The Rackhouse. This Stranahan’s neighbor boasts one of the city’s largest selections of local spirits, including Montanya’s rums.

5280.com Exclusive: Get the recipe for a Montanya Cuban Daiquiri here.

Breckenridge Bourbon Whiskey*$40

One of Colorado’s most decorated spirits, this bourbon delivers everything you’d expect of the breed: a balanced profile of caramel and spice with a nice long finish. You can score your own bottle for “free” by volunteering at one of Breckenridge’s bottling parties (sign up online).

Use it in… A classic Manhattan.

Drink it at… Beast & Bottle. You can ask for Breckenridge in your Manhattan, or upgrade to an “I Smell Brecks and Candy” (bourbon, lemon juice, and house-made orange liqueur, on the rocks with a citrus candy rim).

Local organically grown apples, organic wheat distillate, and a lively blend of lavender, juniper, roses, and other botanicals come together in this bright gin, made by Lance Hanson, a 2012 James Beard Outstanding Wine & Spirits Professional semifinalist.

Dancing Pines liqueurs get high marks from chefs and spirit geeks alike. The black walnut bourbon liqueur is a secret ingredient in several Denver dishes, but the Loveland-based distillery’s chai liqueur, named one of Wine Enthusiast’s 50 Best Spirits of 2012, really stole our hearts (and taste buds).

Use it in… A “chaitini,” anyone? Or upgrade your weekend coffee.

Drink it at… Social. This Fort Collins bar’s Breakfast in Bed (cereal milk made from milk infused with Frosted Flakes and Cinnamon Toast Crunch, cold-steeped coffee, and chai liqueur) is breakfast in a glass.

Deerhammer Down time Single Malt Whiskey

$50

Buena Vista’s Lenny Eckstein—whose great-grandparents made bathtub gin in New York state during Prohibition—together with his wife, Amy, pot distills a blend of five malted grains and Arkansas River snowmelt into a smoky, delicious American whiskey.

Use it in… Nothing. Sip this whiskey neat.

Drink it at… Green Russell, one of only a handful of Denver bars that carry Deerhammer.

Woody Creek signature Potato Vodka$31

This year-old distillery is the epitome of craft. Woody Creek grows its own heirloom potatoes on the Scanlan Family Farm, harvests them, and then gets them in the stills the same day to create a clean, smooth potato vodka.

Use it in… A Moscow mule.

Drink it at… Z Cuisine. You’ll have to ask for it in your martini, but the Highland restaurant regularly carries Woody Creek.

Leopold Bros. Maryland-Style Rye$45

You’ll have to fight with Denver’s best bartenders to find a bottle of this limited production rye, released only in November. But the opening of Leopold Bros.’ new production facility next month means we’ll see more of this smooth rye with floral, fruity hints and zero burn.

5280.com Exclusive: Get the recipe for a Leopold Bros. Classic Old Fashioned here.

It’s been more than two years since co-founder and whiskey guru Jake Norris left Stranahan’s. Since then, he’s been perfecting a new bourbon—set to debut next month—at a new Denver distillery (whose name had not yet been released at press time). Here, Norris walks us through his process to break down the art—and science—of making booze.

1.Malt

To make alcohol, a distiller feeds sugar to yeast. Grain is turned into sugar through malting—or germinating the grain seed by getting it wet and warm and then halting the process to keep sugars in. Norris, as well as many other local spirit makers, uses malted grain from Colorado Malting Company, an Alamosa family farm that began growing barley for Coors in the 1930s (though it doesn’t anymore). A few years ago, the farm began malting grain for spirits.

Leopold Bros. will soon malt its own grain, becoming one of only a few distillers in the world to do so.

2. Mill

Here’s where the distiller’s work really begins. Norris uses roughly 900 pounds of malted grain to produce 1.25 barrels of whiskey (though he notes others use less), milling—or grinding up—the grain for about 20 minutes. From there, he pumps the milled grain over to the cooker.

3.Cook

Next, water (in Norris’ case, good old Rocky Mountain spring water) is added to the milled grain, and then the mixture cooks for four to six hours at more than 150 degrees, a temperature just high enough to kill bacteria. What comes out of this is called the “wash.” (Brewers call it the “mash.”)

4. Ferment

The wash is moved to the fermenting tanks, where yeast is added. It sits for about four days while the yeast eats the sugars and creates alcohol, a process that produces its own heat. To stop the fermenting process, Norris simply cools the materials with water. Like many whiskey makers, Norris uses open-top fermenters, which tend to make richer whiskey than closed-top fermenters.

At Stranahan’s, Norris helped pioneer the use of closed-top fermenters (usually used for beer) for whiskey.

5.Distill

There are three major types of stills: column stills (the most efficient); pot stills (they preserve the most flavor); and hybrid pot-column stills (see illustration at right), which most craft distillers prefer because they offer the best of both worlds. The still is where the real action happens. Alcohol boils at a lower temperature than water (180 degrees versus 204). So to separate the hooch from the water, the stills are heated up to 180 degrees, and the alcohol turns into a vapor and rises. When it hits the condenser, where the temperature is lower than 180, it turns back into a liquid. That liquid is collected and—typically—it’s distilled again to remove any remaining impurities.

Montanya uses pot stills to craft its rums.

6. Barrel

At this point, if a spirit maker is bottling vodka, he’s pretty much done. The stuff that’s coming out of those stills is about 125 proof. But Norris is not making vodka (or gin, in which case he’d take the spirit, add a recipe of botanicals, and distill it again); he’s looking for whiskey. So the distilled liquid is cut with water to bring it down to between about 110 and 125 proof, and then it’s poured into new, American white oak barrels. The distilled spirit is still clear going into the barrels; it will pick up its color—and much of its flavor—from the barrels as it ages (a minimum of two years by Norris’ standards).

7.Bottle

When the whiskey is properly aged, it’s poured into a bottling tank, cut with water, and then bottled.

Stranahan’s and Breckenridge pay their bottling volunteers with a meal and a bottle of booze. Sign up on their websites.

Coming soon! Six northern Colorado distilleries—Black Canyon, Dancing Pines, Feisty Spirits, KJ Wood, Spirit Hound, and Spring44—are working together to create a “Colorado Distillers Trail” app. Essentially, purchasing the app plus one bottle of each of the distilleries’ spirits (at your local liquor store) entitles the buyer to a 10 percent discount at the register and a small gift at each distillery she visits. A $100 upgrade gets you a 30-minute private tour for two at each distillery, two cocktails at each spot, and weekly deals. Learn more by contacting any of the participating distilleries.

There’s no denying whiskey has emerged as the darling of Colorado craft distillers and drinkers. So, it seemed high time someone tasted our state’s renditions to determine which bottles deserve shelf space in your home bar. First, we solicited submissions from Colorado’s bourbon and whiskey makers; we ended up with 15. Then, we gathered a team of whiskey drinkers for a blind taste test. Three hours later, we collected their notes (and made sure everyone had a ride home). Below, we offer a look at their favorites. Consider it a cheat sheet for the next time you’re in the mood for a Manhattan.

5280.com Exclusive:Read more detailed descriptions of some of Colorado's best whiskeys here.

Breckenridge Distillery, Breckenridge Bourbon Whiskey,* $40
Made with Breckenridge snowmelt, this bourbon is layered and balanced, with notes of sweet caramel.

Judges’ comments:

“Approachable; round.”

“A touch of fruit, perhaps.”

Peach Street Distillers, Colorado Straight Bourbon, $60

Peach Street’s crisp, clean bourbon delivers fruity undertones that make it great for sipping on its own or in a mixed drink.

Judges’ comments:

“A bit of a lemon, citrus smell.”

“Herbaceous at the end; would be good in a cocktail.”

Dancing Pines Distillery, Bourbon Whiskey, $40

Loveland-based Dancing Pines’ version proves to be a consummate bourbon—oaky and a bit sweet.

Judges’ comments:

“Nice wood character.”

“Very balanced.”

Spring44, Spring44 Straight Bourbon,* $40

Straight Bourbon from Loveland’s Spring44 delivers a rich mouthful of caramel and nutty sweetness with every sip.

Judges’ comments:

“Sweet, almond, hazelnut.”

“Very nice barrel character.”

Boathouse Distillery, Colorado Bourbon Whiskey,* $35

Born in Kentucky but finished in Salida near the banks of the Arkansas River, Boathouse’s smooth, light Colorado Bourbon Whiskey is an amiable introduction for whiskey neophytes.

Judges’ comments:

“Easy drinking; nonassertive.”

“Warm cake; citrus at the end.”

Deerhammer Distilling Company, Down Time Single Malt Whiskey, $50

With its distinct smoky flavor, this single malt whiskey from Buena Vista’s Deerhammer Distilling may be as close as we’re going to get to Colorado “Scotch.”

Judges’ comments:

“Nostalgic flavor: graham cracker...?”

“A very nice, warm finish.”

“Roasty, smoky, charred wood.”

Black Canyon Distillery, Black Canyon Whiskey, $26

Based in Mead, Black Canyon’s sour mash corn whiskey was inspired by an Old West saloon, and it’s not hard to imagine a couple of cowboys sippin’ this well-balanced version.

Judges’ comments:

“Round; well done!”

“Appley.”

Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey, $59

When most people think of Colorado whiskey, Stranahan’s springs immediately to mind. And for good reason: Not only was it the first to produce a Colorado-born whiskey, but Stranahan’s booze is also damn tasty, with notes of caramel and fruit and a hot but clean finish.

Judges’ comments:

“Sweet, some fruit, straightforward.”

“Autumn spice.”

Colorado Gold Distillery, Corn Whiskey, $25

This Cedaredge corn whiskey’s light, smooth, mildly fruity flavor profile derives from local ingredients. Colorado State University graduate and head distiller Mike Almy sources nearly all of his ingredients from the Centennial State, including Western Slope corn.

Judges’ comments:

“Kind of a fruity taste, almost like a wine.”

“Grappalike; soft and slightly sweet.”

Deerhammer Distilling Company, Down Time Single Malt Whiskey, $50

With its distinct smoky flavor, this single malt whiskey from Buena Vista’s Deerhammer Distilling may be as close as we’re going to get to Colorado “Scotch.”

Judges’ comments:

“Nostalgic flavor: graham cracker...?”

“A very nice, warm finish.”

“Roasty, smoky, charred wood.”

Black Canyon Distillery, Black Canyon Whiskey, $26

Based in Mead, Black Canyon’s sour mash corn whiskey was inspired by an Old West saloon, and it’s not hard to imagine a couple of cowboys sippin’ this well-balanced version.

Judges’ comments:

“Round; well done!”

“Appley.”

Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey, $59

When most people think of Colorado whiskey, Stranahan’s springs immediately to mind. And for good reason: Not only was it the first to produce a Colorado-born whiskey, but Stranahan’s booze is also damn tasty, with notes of caramel and fruit and a hot but clean finish.

Judges’ comments:

“Sweet, some fruit, straightforward.”

“Autumn spice.”

Colorado Gold Distillery, Corn Whiskey, $25

This Cedaredge corn whiskey’s light, smooth, mildly fruity flavor profile derives from local ingredients. Colorado State University graduate and head distiller Mike Almy sources nearly all of his ingredients from the Centennial State, including Western Slope corn.

Judges’ comments:

“Kind of a fruity taste, almost like a wine.”

“Grappalike; soft and slightly sweet.”

There are those who would argue that a well-made whiskey is as essential a writing tool as paper, pens, and a working knowledge of Hemingway. For journalists, then, making hooch becomes a simple matter of economy. This is especially true in Colorado, where moonshining comes with a paltry $250 fine and ranks as a mere “petty offense,” a crime class that includes littering.

Or so went my logic when I pitched the idea of making booze for this story. (I’ve got a genetic predisposition: My great-granddaddy kept his Virginia root cellar stocked with the stuff.) Then I discovered that moonshining is still illegal under federal law, punishable by five years in prison and a $10,000 fine—which, it turns out, is not a reimbursable editorial expense. So I opted to explore a different question: At least 6,000 Coloradans make their own beer—why not booze?

Well, death, for one thing. While you might make someone sick with poorly brewed beer, you’re probably not going to kill them. But you can accidentally produce methanol when making hooch. Methanol does wonders for your car in antifreeze, but your internal organs? Not so much.

The federal government lets us do plenty of potentially lethal things legally, though—ride motorcycles without a helmet, own guns, play football, ski—so there had to be another reason. There is: money.

The feds collect an average of $2.14 in taxes for every bottle of spirits produced. (Last year the government banked about $4.1 billion in taxes from domestic producers.) Compare that to the federal tax of five cents or less on a bottle of beer or about 21 cents on a bottle of wine, and you begin to get a clearer picture about the government’s “concern” for our well-being.

Of course, should you decide to risk death and jail and make your own moonshine (legal disclaimer: We are not suggesting this), you probably won’t end up in the hoosegow. Our sources at the Denver field division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives say moonshining isn’t exactly a high-priority crime for them. In fact, we couldn’t find a single prosecuted case in the state in the past 15 years.

We’ll drink to that.

There’s a state bird (the adorable lark bunting), a state tree (Colorado blue spruce), even a state folk dance (the square dance, of course). Yet somehow there’s no Centennial State cocktail. We asked three of Denver’s craftiest drink makers to create a beverage fit for the title.

5280.com Exclusive:Watch each of these cocktails and then vote for your favorite here.

Why it’s “stateriotic”: The 4th Pin is something of an ode to Colorado’s state sport: skiing. Leopold Bros. Three Pins Liqueur, made with dozens of herbs and flowers—many native to Colorado—is named after traditional telemark ski bindings, which use three pins to connect the binding to the ski. The drink—well, that’s the fourth pin.

2. Central Slope Sour

Alexandra Parks, Bar Manager, Acorn

1 ¼ ounces Breckenridge Bourbon

½ ounce Leopold Bros. Three Pins Alpine Herbal Liqueur

¾ ounce honey

½ ounce lemon juice

1 dash Fee Brothers Whiskey Barrel-Aged Bitters

.6 ounce Avery IPA

Sage leaf

Cherry

Shake all ingredients except the beer with ice and strain into a double old fashioned glass with ice. Top with Avery IPA and stir gently. Garnish with a sage leaf wrapped around a cherry on a bamboo spear.

Why it’s “stateriotic”: “Colorado has always been a whiskey state,” Parks says. But, she notes, we’re also a craft beer mecca. Given all of that, Parks riffed on the whiskey sour with “a touch of the beautiful aromatics of beer and the feel of the forest.”

3. The Centennial Smash

Sean Kenyon, Barman and Proprietor, Williams & Graham

¼ Palisade peach

10–12 locally grown mint leaves

½ ounce Colorado honey

1 ½ ounces Spring44 Bourbon

½ ounce Leopold Bros. Three Pins Alpine Herbal Liqueur

In a mixing tin, muddle the peach and mint with honey. Add the bourbon and liqueur and shake. Double strain the drink over fresh ice into an old fashioned glass. Garnish with a peach slice and a mint sprig.

Why it’s “stateriotic”: “Whiskey was king in Colorado saloons in the late 1800s,” Kenyon says. And so were smash-style cocktails. For this drink, Kenyon showcases Loveland’s Spring44 Bourbon and all Colorado-grown ingredients: Palisade peaches, local wildflower honey, and mint leaves.